Door frame construction



ug. 25, H936. F. M. VENZIE 2,052,1@2l

DOOR FRAME CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 26, 1933 Jy I INVENTOB I Kia/ZJ@ATTORNEY Patented ug. 25, 1936 UNITED srArEs Doon FRAME CONSTRUCTION;

Frederick M. venzie, Philadelphia, Pa., assigner Yto National GypsumCompany,` Buffalo, N. Y., a corporationv of4 Delaware Applicationoctober 26,1933, serial No. 695,240

'6 Claims.

My invention` relates to building construction and, more particularly,to a novel metal door case or door buck.

Heretofore in modern building constructions involving the use of a metaldoorcase, the unit has been completely assembled, various parts weldedtogether and shipped to the job as a unit. The doorcase, by reason ofthe way in which it is supported, after erection, has no severe strainplaced upon the legs or side pieces thereof but in shipment the legs mayeasily be bent and the units either broken at the corners or distortedto such an extent that they will be practically useless on the job.

The present invention contemplates the elimination of these diflicultiesby the provision of a doorcase which is composed of a multiplicity ofpreshaped pieces which may be readily crated and shipped, and which maybe assembled on the job with a minimum of labor.

A primary object of my invention is to provide a metal doorcase whichmay be shipped in a disassembled condition thus avoiding damage to thesame during shipment and which may be cheaply and readily assembled onthe job.

A more specic object of the invention is to provide a doorcase havingseparable legs and head together with means for detachably holding themin assembled position.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing specication, claims, and from the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line ll--ll of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view illustrating one corner of mydoorcase construction.

Doorcases prior to their erection are exceedingly fragile due to thefact that the long legs can exert great leverage on the joints at whichthey are connected to the head which leverage these joints are notdesigned to withstand since, when properly in place, it is virtuallyimpossible to exert upon the legs a force tending to produce suchaction. In shipping such doorcases it has therefore been necessary tocrate them and as these crates are at least as large as the doorcase itis obvious that much space is wasted since the cases are in themselvesnothing but a frame for a door.

(Cl. 18S-446) i The present invention eliminates the need `forassembling the doorcases prior to their arrival at the building in whichthey are to be erected by the provision of three detachable parts (Fig.

1) a head ill, legs H, and corner braces |13 (Fig. 5 2 et seq.) adaptedto hold the head and legs together. The head lll and legs li are eachcut from the same metal shape, the shape being commonlyI known andcommercially available, and formed with mitered ends.` This shape isformed from a channel upon the web lla, of which is pressed a secondchannel l lb to form a door stop. The ends of the flanges llc or" theshape are bent inwardly as at lid so that their inner faces co-operatewith the web lla and smaller channel shape Hb to form a track orguideway.

In order to connect the head lil and legs Il from within, as must bedone to present a suitable and nished appearance, I provide the cornerbraces I3, each of which is a unitary structure composed of two flatangle pieces ifi and l5 welded as at ll to flanges lila. on the oppositeedges of the web of channel i6 bent at a right angle to conform to theangle pieces lll and l5. The flat angles lil and l5 and the channel i6are so proportioned and sized that the flat angles fit closely betweenthe iianges lid and the web lla of the head l@ and legs ll and so thatthe bent channel i6 abuts a portion of the web 30 l la of these units.The corner braces I3 and the legs il may be bored as at 26 for thereception of a bolt and nut i9 whereby the brace and legs may be lockedin position. The brace and the head lil may be similarly connected orthese two may be welded together.

Various modications may be made in the above described embodiment of myinvention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as setforth in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A metal doorcase comprising a head, a pair of legs, said head andlegs being similar in cross section, and means slidable only within theends of said head and only within one end of each of said legs forpositioning the legs at right angles with respect to said head and meanspassing through said head and legs for maintaining said last named meansin place.

2. A metal doorcase comprising a head; a pair 5o of legs; said head andlegs being identical in cross section and shaped to provide upon theirinteriors oppositely disposed channels lying in parallel verticalplanes; cornerpieces comprising two flat angles welded to a channel bentto form a right angle, said channel lying in contact with portions ofsaid head and said leg and each of said flat angles engaging one of thechannels within said head and leg; a bolt passing through said head andthe channel of said cornerpiece; a. bolt passing through said leg andsaid cornerpiece; and nuts on said bolts.

3. A metal doorcase comprising a head; a pair of legs; said head andlegs being identical in cross section and shaped to provide upon theirinteriors oppositely disposed channels; cornerpieces comprising two flatangles Welded to a channel bent to form a right angle, said channellying in contact with portions of said head and said leg and each ofsaid flat angles engaging one of the channels Within said head and leg;and means for maintaining said cornerpieces in position Within said headand legs.

4. A metal doorcase comprising a head; a pair of legs; said head andlegs being shaped to provide upon their interiors oppositely disposedchannels; cornerpieces comprising a. connecting link, two fiat anglesWelded to said connecting link, each of said flat angles engaging one ofthe channels within said head and leg; and means for maintaining saidcornerpieces in position Within said head and legs.

5. A metal doorcase comprising separable head and leg portions andcorner pieces, said corner pieces conforming in shape to the inner sidefaces of said head and legs and slidable into position therewithin, saidcorner pieces also providing a reinforcement along the ends of both saidhead and legs.

6. A metal doorcase comprising a head, a pair of legs, said head andlegs being similar in crosssection, and means slidable Within the endsof said head and within one end of each of said legs and in contact withthe inner surfaces only of the side Walls thereof for connecting saidhead with said legs to form a unitary structure. 20

FREDERICK M. VENZIE.

